Storing and transporting airplanes



March 31, 1942. SCOTT 2,277,787 I STORING AND TRANSPOR'IING AIRPLANESFiled Nov. 4, 1940 BY $0 W4 STOG AND TRANSPORTING AIRPLANES Earle MarcusScott, Lancaster, N.

to Uniloy Accessories 6011)., a corporation of New York Y., assignorLancaster, N. Y.,

Application November 4, 1940, Serial No. 364,212

3 Claims. 214 -161) The invention relates to the handling and storing ofairplanes.

In hangars for airplanes it is desired to conserve space and to increaseits capacity for storing airplanes, particularly those of the lightertype and also to provide equipment for facilitat ing theirtransportation from place to place in the hangar.

The object of the invention is to provide an apparatus for storing andhandling airplanes in hangars which makes itpossible to increase thecapacity of the hangar by placing them in close or overlapping relationto each other and by which the movements of the airplanes in the hangarwill be facilitated.

Other objects of the invention will appear from the detaileddescription.

The invention consists in the several novel features which arehereinafter set forth and are more particularly defined by claims at theconclusion hereof.

In the drawing: Fig. 1 is a side elevation showing the attitude of anairplane when it is supported in accordance with the invention. Fig.

2 is a front view of one of the wheeled carriers and an airplane wheelsupported therein. Fig. 3 is a front elevation of one of thecarriers andthe front end of the airplane supported in its tilted position. Fige isa perspective of the' frame of one of the carriers.

In airplanes comprising front landing wheels and tail supports forsupporting the airplane on the ground, the center of gravity, when theairplane is resting on the-floor or ground, is located rearwardly of theaxis of the front landing wheels and the tail will normally overbalancethe front end or nose of the fuselage and the parts, such as the engine,which are carried therein. The invention provides for elevating thefront landing wheels and tilting the airplane on the axis of theelevated front carrying wheels to bring the center of gravity in frontof the said axis a suiiicient distance so that the nose or front portionof the airplane will overbalance the tail portion and for supporting thenose or front end in such position that the longitudinal axis of thebody of the plane will be inclined rearwardly and upwardly to reduce thefloor space necessary for the storage of the airplane. For this purpose,the invention provides a pair of wheeled carriers or cradles, each ofwhich is adapted to be independently placed under one of the frontlanding wheels at the sides of the airplane and a wheeled end or at thenose of the airplane, such as the carrier adapted to support a part ofthe front propeller, so the longitudinal axis of the airplane will beinclined upwardly and rearwardly and its center of gravity will be infront of the axis of the front carrying wheels so that the tail will beheld elevated by the preponderance of weight at the front end. Theinvention is exemplified with an airplane which comprises a fuselage a,a tail b, a nose c, a pair of front landing wheels (I, at opposite sidesof the fuselage, a'propeller e, and a tail-wheel f. The center ofgravity of the airplane is indicated at g.

The equipment or apparatus for carrying out the invention comprises aseries of three carriers which may be of similar construction. Eachcarrier comprises a body or frame which is provided with a sphericallyconvex wall 5 which forms an upwardly facing pocket adapted to receiveone of the landing wheels and a series of four outwardly. extendingintegral channeled.

arms 10. Each body is movably supported for transportation on the hangarfloor by four caster wheels ll which are swivelled to the outer ends ofarms ill to permit the wheels to caster horizontally through 360. Thechannels of two oppositely extending arms I!) are provided with bossesit. A pair of upstanding rods or standards it are removably held inbosses l3 and are provided at their upper ends with Hi for receiving theoppositely extending blades of the propeller at the nose of theairplane. These saddles are spaced apart to receive the shanks of thepropeller blades. These saddles are provided with linings it of rubberwhich serve as cushions for the propeller blades. For thepurpose ofinterchangeable use under the front land ing wheels or the nose of thepropeller, each carrier may be provided with bosses i3, but it is to beunderstood that these bosses may, if desired, be omitted from two of thecarriers.

In use, assuming the airplane to be resting on the hangar floor, onewing is lifted manually sufiiciently to raise the front landing wheel aat the elevated side so that one of the carriers ca be moved under saidwheel. The wing is then lowered into the concave pocket in that carrier.The spherical convex contour of the wheel-re ceiving pocket in the bodyID makes it possible to receive and retain a landing wheel withoutaccurately spotting the carrier under the wheel. Next, the other wing ofthe airplane is lifted sulficiently to permit the second carrier to bewheeled under it and the second front landing wheel is then dropped intothe spherically concave pocket of that carrier. Next, the third carrierwhich carries a pair of saddles I3 is placed under descent of the noseof the airplane.

the front end or nose-portion of the airplane in position to receive theshanks of the propeller blades b and the tail of the airplane ismanually elevated to move the center of gravity of the airplane in frontof the axis of the front landing wheels. If desired a line or rope maybe attached or tied to the tail-wheel to control the lowering of thenose of the plane after the center of gravity passes in front of theaxis of the front landing wheels to gradually control the The thirdcarrier is then rolled into such position that the cushioned saddles 13will receive the propeller blades 2) without jar or likelihood ofdamage. When the airplane is supported in the position illustrated inFig. l the plane can be hodily shifted in any direction over the floor,the castered wheels 8 permitting its movement in any angular directionover the floor. When the airplane is thus supported, the floor spaceoccupied by it will be greatly less than that occupied by it when it isin its normal position on the floor or ground. It is then also possibleto arrange the airplane closely together in a row by positioning thesupporting carrier of one airplane in close proximity to, and partiallyunder, another similarly inclined airplane. That makes it possible togreatly increase the storing capacity of the hangar. The castered wheelson each set of the three carriers make it possible to easily manipulatethe upwardly tilted plane over the floor and out of or into a row. Theequipment is simple in construction and faciiltates the manualtransportation of the plane in the hangar.

The invention is not to be understood as restricted to the details setforth, since these may be modified within the scope of the appendedclaims, without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

Having thus described the invention, what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patentis:

1. Equipment for handling airplanes comprising a pair of carriers forsupporting the front landing wheels of an airplane above ground level,and a third carrier provided with a saddle for supporting, and adaptedto be engaged by an element on the front end of, the airplane in arearwardly and upwardly inclined position when the airplane is tiltedlongitudinally on the axis of the front landing wheels to bring itscenter of gravity forwardly of the axis of the landing wheels.

2. Equipment for handling airplanes comprising a pair of carriers forsupporting the front landing wheels of an airplane above ground level,each provided with caster wheels, and a third carrier provided withcaster wheels and a saddle for supporting, and adapted to be engaged byan element on the front end of, the airplane in a rearwardly andupwardly inclined position when the airplane is tilted longitudinally onthe axis of the front landing wheels to bring its center of gravityforwardly of the axis of the landing wheels.

3. Equipment .for handling airplanes comprising a pair of carriers forsupporting the front landing wheels of an airplane above ground level,each carrier being provided with caster wheels and on its upper facewith a spherically concave pocket for confining a wheel against lateralmovement on the carrier, and a third carrier provided with caster wheelsand a saddle for supporting, and adapted to be engaged by an element onthe front end of, the airplane in a rearwardly and upwardly inclinedposition when the airplane is tilted longitudinally on the axis of thelanding wheels to bring its center of gravity forwardly of the axis ofthe landing wheels.

EARLE MARCUS SCOTT.

